[juliec]

Hi All,

Ive planted garlic, onions and shallots which are all coming up nicely.  However the shallots appear to be coming up in bunches, there are several shoots coming up from each shallot planted.  Is this normal and are they growing a bunch iof shallots down there.  Also when will I know if they are ready for  harvesting?

Many thanks for  any help, this is my first time growing shallots and garlic.

jools

[gillie]

Yes, this is normal, and yes, they will grow a 'bunch of shallots'.

Towards the end of the summer the tops will turn brown and die down.  When this has happened you can lift your shallots, dry them in the sun and then store them.

[juliec]

Thanks very much that now makes sense.
x

[TerryB]

If you want spring onions before the ones planted from seed are ready, you can lift shallots early, before the bulbs get to big. 

[ferreter51]

I planted my shallots about a month ago, but so far only one set has sprouted and I am getting a bit worried.  As posted in another thread I have had trouble with a neighbour's chickens digging up anything I planted to get at any food underneath, but I covered the shallot sets with well-anchored wire mesh and I know they have not been disturbed.  Should I wait and hope or should I try to buy some more sets and plant those in a different place?

[prakash_mib]

I planted my shallots about a month ago, but so far only one set has sprouted and I am getting a bit worried.  As posted in another thread I have had trouble with a neighbour's chickens digging up anything I planted to get at any food underneath, but I covered the shallot sets with well-anchored wire mesh and I know they have not been disturbed.  Should I wait and hope or should I try to buy some more sets and plant those in a different place?

they take a bit of time to sprout. First thing they do is send out roots. Did you buried the whole shallot? the advice is to leave the very top of the top (pointy bit) visible. I did it that way so that I know it is still in place. a slight disturbance of one of the shallots will give you an idea of what they are doing. but I would wait if I havent seen any shallots pulled out on the plot and those shallots were from a good source of seed producers. 

[ferreter51]

I planted my shallots about a month ago, but so far only one set has sprouted and I am getting a bit worried.  As posted in another thread I have had trouble with a neighbour's chickens digging up anything I planted to get at any food underneath, but I covered the shallot sets with well-anchored wire mesh and I know they have not been disturbed.  Should I wait and hope or should I try to buy some more sets and plant those in a different place?

they take a bit of time to sprout. First thing they do is send out roots. Did you buried the whole shallot? the advice is to leave the very top of the top (pointy bit) visible. I did it that way so that I know it is still in place. a slight disturbance of one of the shallots will give you an idea of what they are doing. but I would wait if I havent seen any shallots pulled out on the plot and those shallots were from a good source of seed producers. 

The shallots are from the same supplier I use every year and they have always cropped well.  I will give them another two weeks before I start to panic, I think.

[JayG]

I planted 2 different types on 24/2 and they are only really starting to show now, which is more or less par for the course.

As long as they are still physically there ( ) and not showing signs of rotting off I'm sure they'll be fine (as Prakash said if you gently wobble one you should be able to feel that it has anchored itself into the soil.)